The Editorial Team |

MTN Nigeria Deal Fails to Fuel Shares as More Trouble Feared

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. executives may have expected investors to cut them a little slack after they got potential liabilities of $8.1 billion in Nigeria reduced to $53 million last month. Not so. MTN stock has risen just 2.8 percent since the settlement on Dec. 24, still 20 percent below its price in late August. That’s when Nigeria’s central bank first alleged that the Johannesburg-based wireless carrier had illegally repatriated funds…

Gambia Truth Commission Begins Hearings Into Ex-Dictator’s Rule

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BANJUL (Capital Markets in Africa) – A commission that is investigating abuses under the 22-year rule of former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh began proceedings Monday as victims say they demand justice for atrocities committed against them. The repressive reign of Jammeh, who seized control of the West African nation in a 1994 coup, was characterized by human-rights violations such as torture, disappearances and forcing HIV sufferers to follow his own treatment methods. He was ousted two years…

Sibanye Counts Hit to Earnings as Strike at Gold Mines Drags On

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Sibanye Gold Ltd. said a protracted strike at its South African gold mines may hurt earnings at a time when the producer remains under pressure to reduce debt. Thousands of workers started a strike in November over pay, and there’s inconsistent output at three mines amid limited operations, spokesman James Wellsted said, without saying how many workers are showing up. Sibanye is assessing the impact on its finances, he said. While the…

Ivory Coast Is Said to Plan Eurobond Sale of at Least $1 Billion

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ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ivory Coast is planning to sell at least $1 billion in Eurobonds as the West African nation weighs its finance needs against rising debt costs, according to three people familiar with the matter. The world’s top cocoa grower, which budgeted to raise 1.44 trillion CFA francs ($2.5 billion) in debt in 2019, is reviewing the amount of securities it can sell on the regional market and will seek the remaining…

Nigeria Softens Rules Shielding Banks From Wireless Rivals

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria is preparing rules that will allow wireless carriers to transfer cash, softening a previous policy that protected the turf of banks in Africa’s most populous country. The central bank may have realized it can’t rely on lenders alone to achieve its objective of extending services to the 50 million adults still without a bank account in the nation of about 200 million people. Telecommunications firms, including South Africa’s MTN…

JPMorgan Says Payments to Libya Oil-Fund Fixer Weren’t Bribes

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TRIPOLI (Capital Markets in Africa) – JPMorgan Chase & Co. acknowledged that Bear Stearns made millions of dollars of payments to a friend of the son of Libyan dictator Moammar Al Qaddafi around the time it raised $200 million for the country’s wealth fund. But the bank is refuting the Libyan Investment Authority’s central allegation in a London lawsuit that the funds were used to bribe and intimidate officials who awarded the 2007 bond deal. The payments were for help…

Top Congo Coltan Miner Joins Rival Tracing Program, Exits ITSCI

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo’s top exporter of coltan — a raw material needed to make mobile phones — has signed on to a rival mineral-tracing program after exiting the more-established ITSCI system. Societe Miniere de Bisunzu is joining RCS Global Group’s Better Sourcing system, the parties said in a joint statement. Like ITSCI, Better Sourcing provides tracking and verification services for minerals originating in Congo and neighboring countries…

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